TX Resident. Large public HS. Legacy at Rice (grandfather).
Budget is around 15-20k/year
Intending to major in Political Science
39/505 in my class. Top 10% but not top 6%. 1510 on SAT (780 EBRW 730 Mathematics).
3.94/4.44 GPA. 34 on ACT (from 8th grade, though, so I won’t submit unless advised to)
Classwork - 9 APs 12 Honors
all 4s and 5s on AP tests
ECs
TMEA All-State 1st chair in 2023 (e-flat clarinet)
Two congressional internships
Interlochen qual, 1st chair
Texas Boys State
2 away from NSDA Debate Nationals
Various leadership positions
Founded Mock Trial Club
Essays will be 9/10
LOR around 7/10
Schools
TAMU has a strong poly sci program and I’m autoadmit. However, I live in CS, and want to leave.
SMU (pretty good chance of admissions?)
These are my reach (?) schools. Applying ED to Emory (probably). What should I change/add/edit?
Emory, UT (LBJ School of Public Affairs), Rice, UVA, Maryland, Cornell, Dartmouth, USC, Vanderbilt.
If you have any suggestions for new schools, or if you think any of these schools would be a particularly good or bad match for me, let me know. Thanks in advance for your consideration!
Have you run the Net Price Calculator for Emory to see if it’s affordable?
https://npc.collegeboard.org/app/emory
Once you let us know the results we can provide more targeted advice. 
Keep in mind that most public universities (exceptions UVA and UNC) do not provide need-based aid to out of state students. So schools like UMD would only meet your budget with a competitive scholarship like Banneker Key.
5 Likes
Yes, it gave me c. 15-20k/year
1 Like
Doesn’t that leave you about $50,000/year short, though?
You might look at schools where you could get substantial merit.
Maybe I misunderstood your post. Did the NPC estimate $15-20k in aid or a net family contribution of $15-20k after aid? I interpreted as the latter, but if it’s estimating you need to pay $50k you’ll need to reevaluate your list.
1 Like
NetPrice estimated a necessary contribution of $15-20k. Sorry for the confusion.
2 Likes
Ok so I am the one who misunderstood 
2 Likes
SMU is very likely and I would be you get lots of merit aid too. I’m not sure how that would interact with need based aid, but I’d say admission is very very likely.
People will say that UT is a reach, but I’d consider it a target - meaning whether you get in or not is a toss up, not guaranteed. It’s true you are not top 6 percent but you are still a very competitive resident applicant and they definitely accept high achieving students outside the top 6 percent, especially in state
Your other schools are reaches. I would drop those publics that do not meet need for out of state run the NPC for any others to have a better understanding of affordability.
Many ivies are generous with aid, up to a certain level of family income. They would all be reaches for admission but worth considering because most are very strong in political science, especially Princeton, Harvard and Yale. Other high reaches with excellent poli sci and meet financial need are Stanford, Duke, Georgetown.
Finally, if you got a 34 on the ACT in 8th grade, I’d consider retaking it. Your SAT score is excellent but on the low end of the mid-50 range for the very tippy top schools. You apparently killed the ACT way back when (!)…if you can score 35 or 36 taking it now it’s certainly worth submitting that.
2 Likes
A 34 is an excellent score and I would suggest submitting it. Since you took it more than 4 years ago, I would suggest taking it again, as you have learned a lot since then and may score even higher.
Did the Net Price Calculator (NPC) at all of the private schools and UVA come back as affordable? At U. of Maryland you would only be able to afford it if you receive one of the Banneker Key scholarships (i.e. their top merit award).
Overall, I think the schools on your list look fine, but it’s a reach-heavy list. Except for SMU they are all low probability admits (Maryland itself is not low probability, but it’s low probability to get in AND to get a BK scholarship).
I’d investigate UT-Dallas and U. of Houston to see if either of those might be of interest. Also check out Trinity U. in San Antonio, as it also tends to be pretty generous with merit aid.
I tend to like state capitals for people who are interested in political science and government positions. Some other schools you may want to consider include:
- U. of Richmond (VA)
- Providence U. (RI)
- Brown U. (RI)
- Trinity College (CT)
- George Washington (D.C.)
- American (D.C.)
- Georgetown (D.C.)
- Ohio State - again, would need Big Merit™ here
- Suffolk (MA)
- Butler (IN)
- Oglethorpe (GA) - has a flagship match program, so would match the tuition at UT and is part of the consortium with other Atlanta-area schools like Emory, Georgia Tech, and Morehouse
3 Likes
I agree with the premise of dropping OOS publics that don’t meet need, unless the OP is particularly interested in the school and wants to try for competitive merit. However, UVA does meet need for OOS students (as does UNC) so I would keep UVA on the list.
4 Likes
UVA does meet (its definition) of need for out-of-state students.
I hadn’t heard that was the case here. Is this a new policy?
2 Likes
Ditto! No need for me to finish my post about other schools to research.
1 Like
I feel like UTD and U of H are lower-quality poly sci schools than TAMU (correct me if I’m wrong). I don’t want to move so badly that I’d give up going to a school that’s cheap, top 50, and good with my major if I didn’t have a better option.
(I missed part of your post. My bad)
Thanks for the replies and consideration, by the way!
1 Like
I’d like to know this as well. W&M offers need aid to OOS students, but unless something has changed recently they don’t promise to meet need (as they do for VA residents).
They do have the very competitive 1693 full ride if the OP is interested.
I stand corrected on both - got them confused! And will edit my post.
At least some on the excellent list you suggested also do not need meed. I know that GW and Providence do not, for example. Not sure on all the others.
2 Likes
I totally understand how that happens!
And I agree that not all the schools I mentioned say they meet need. But I think we should see how the NPC pans out, and he may also end up getting one of the big merit awards at one of them (most of them have a small number of big scholarships that would bring them within budget).
2 Likes
Does anyone have any idea on how legacy would impact admissions at Rice? I can’t really find any good information on it. My school usually sends a couple of kids there a year, but I’d guess I’m around a 25% applicant there
As in 75% of their students are more qualified than myself